System and method for removing medication from packaging

ABSTRACT

An improved pharmaceutical dispensing system that allows direct transfer of doses from bulk blister packs into custom pharmaceutical packages in which medication doses are arranged by day of the week and/or time of day. In a preferred embodiment, the invention comprises a positioning mechanism that controls a de-blister apparatus. The de-blister apparatus comprises a de-blister means, such as a plunger, to remove individual doses from the blister pack and dispose them into a corresponding cavity of the custom pharmaceutical package. The apparatus may operate under manual or automatic control. Such an invention alleviates the operator from having to remove all of the medication doses from the blister pack before distributing the doses amongst the cavities of the custom pharmaceutical package.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

1. Field of the Invention

The present invention relates, in general, to the field of medication dispenser systems. More specifically, the present invention is directed to a system and method which may be used for dispensing medication from blister packages into custom pharmaceutical packages.

2. Description of the Related Art

The present invention overcomes the shortcomings and the deficiencies of the prior art and is directed to systems and methods which solve or at least substantially reduce the problems associated with existing pharmaceutical and medication dispenser systems.

Over the last few years in the field of drug therapy, there has been an increase in the number of treatments that utilize more then one pharmaceutical product to treat any particular ailment. Moreover, as the world population ages, more patients are taking a plurality of medications on a daily basis to treat multiple ailments or diseases. In response, various forms of packaging have been developed in order to organize the medications by time of day and/or day of the week in order to ensure that the proper doses of medication are taken at the correct time of day.

In most instances, an individual receives one or more prescriptions from a doctor, and a pharmacy provides a pre-determined supply of each medication properly distributed amongst cavities of a single container, sometimes called a custom pharmaceutical package. Each cavity in the container is labeled for a different day or time of day to ensure that the patient takes the proper medication and dosage throughout the time period prescribed by the doctor. Thus, when an individual is required to take numerous pharmaceutical products throughout a given day the individual simply accesses the proper individual cavity to retrieve the correct dose of medication(s).

As an example of such a package, a container is divided in both the x and y direction into a plurality of individual cavities. The labels in the x direction are, for example, the days of the week: “Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday,” etc. The labels in the y direction are, for example, “Morning, Afternoon, Evening, Bedtime,” etc.

In order to aid pharmacies in filling these packages, automated system have been developed that disperse individual doses from a bulk supply into respective containers.

However, a problem has arisen in countries such as the United Kingdom which require all medications to be sold and distributed in individual blister packages. As a result, it has not been possible to utilize such automatic packaging devices without first manually removing each medication from the blister pack to form a bulk supply. Such a shortcoming reduces the usefulness of the apparatus and detrimentally causes reduced sales of the devices in these regions. Accordingly, there remains a need in the field for improved pharmaceutical dispensing devices that directly transfer medication doses from a blister pack into a cavity of a custom pharmaceutical package in accordance with a particular patient's needs. Other objects and advantages of the present invention will be apparent in light of the following Summary and detailed description of presently preferred embodiments.

BRIEF SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

The present invention is directed to a system and method for directly transferring medications provided in blister packs to custom pharmaceutical product packages based on a particular patient's needs.

In accordance with a first preferred exemplary embodiment of the present invention, the medication dispensing system and method employs a de-blister apparatus, holding bracket, and funnel all mounted to a cantilevered arm, a positioning mechanism to allow the de-blister apparatus to be moved in two directions, a sealing paddle in which an empty custom pharmaceutical package is placed, and a templated structure with a pre-defined matrix of holes formed therein such that the sealing paddle slides in underneath the templated structure.

The de-blister apparatus includes a means for removing individual doses from a blister pack. In a preferred embodiment of the invention, this means is implemented as a plunger that protrudes in a downward direction and moves in a vertical direction between two extreme positions. The plunger is driven by, for example, a solenoid disposed within the de-blister apparatus package. Positioned below the de-blister apparatus and also connected to the cantilevered arm is a holding bracket upon which a funnel is attached. Once a pharmaceutical blister pack is positioned over the funnel and across the bracket, the plunger is displaced by the solenoid contact with each of the blisters to remove the medication dose from the blister-pack such that the dose falls into the funnel. The funnel helps to guide the pharmaceutical once it is freed from the blister-pack to one of the cavities in the custom pharmaceutical package.

The aforementioned positioning apparatus allows the de-blister apparatus to be moved in the x-direction (left to right) and the y-direction (forward and back). Although not shown, the positioning apparatus may also contain an adjustment mechanism allowing the de-blister apparatus to be moved in the z-direction (up and down). In one embodiment, the positioning apparatus is comprised of two slide-axes that allow the de-blister apparatus to be moved in the x and y directions under manual control. For example, this would allow the user to position the de-blister apparatus by hand, and then manually cause the plunger to strike one of the blister in the blister package, thereby releasing a single dose of medication into a desired cavity of the custom pharmaceutical package.

In another embodiment of the positioning apparatus, screw-axes could be added in addition to, or in place of, the slide-axes. In this embodiment, the de-blister apparatus could be utilized under computer control, such that the screw-axes are utilized to control the position of the de-blister apparatus in the x and y directions. In this manner, the computer can be programmed to automatically transfer each dose in the blister package to its requisite cavity in the custom pharmaceutical package without user intervention.

In a third embodiment of the positioning apparatus, a pivotable arm may be used to position the de-blister apparatus. Just as in the former embodiment, the pivotable arm may be under manual or computer control. The decision of which positioning mechanism is used in any one situation will be based upon factors such as ease of use and available space.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE SEVERAL VIEWS OF THE DRAWING

FIG. 1 shows a partially automatic medication dispenser system embodiment of the present invention;

FIG. 2 shows a manually operated medication dispenser system embodiment of the present invention;

FIG. 3 shows an alternate embodiment utilizing a swing arm positioning apparatus;

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

While various embodiments of the present invention are discussed in detail below, it should be appreciated that the present invention provides inventive concepts that can be embodied in a wide variety of specific contexts. The specific embodiments discussed are merely illustrative of specific ways to make and use the invention and do not limit the scope of the invention.

FIG. 1 illustrates a first embodiment of a medication dispenser apparatus 10 according to the current invention. The apparatus is comprised of a de-blister apparatus 2, a positioning mechanism 4, a holding bracket 14, a cantilevered arm 12 for connecting the de-blister apparatus 2 and the bracket 14 to the positioning mechanism 4, a funnel 16 attached to the bracket 14, a sealing paddle 6 which holds a custom pharmaceutical package (not shown), and a templated structure 8 for interfacing between the funnel output and the custom pharmaceutical package. The de-blister apparatus further comprises a plunger 18 for removing individual doses of medication from a target blister-pack. The positioning mechanism includes slide rails 30 to facilitate movement in the x-direction, and slide rails 28 to facilitate movement in the y-direction. Finally, blister packs 22 and 24 are manually or mechanically fed to the de-blister apparatus 2.

For illustration purposes only, the apparatus in FIG. 1 contains a screw drive in only one direction (the y-direction). In a fully automated system, as one skilled in the art would recognize, an additional screw drive could be placed on drive mechanism 20 to allow automated control in the x-direction.

Under fully automatic control, a computer, for example, could be pre-programmed with the relative x, y coordinates of each cavity in the template 8. A user desiring to create a custom pharmaceutical package would enter in each medication and the correct time of day that medication is to be taken. In accordance with this data, the computer would control the relative position of the de-blister apparatus via the screw-drives 26. The plunger, also under computer control, would then be activated to impinge on each blister in the blister pack corresponding to each cavity that the medication is to be deposited into. Additional blister packs may be loaded depending on the total amount of medication needed for the custom pharmaceutical package. Blister packs containing different medications could then be loaded based on the needs of each patient.

FIG. 2 shows a second embodiment of the instant invention. Reference numbers corresponding to elements disclosed in FIG. 1 have been duplicated. In this embodiment, the pharmaceutical dispensing apparatus is under pure manual control. More specifically, there are no screw-drives in either the x or the y direction. Rather, slide rails 28 and 30 provide for free-movement of the de-blister apparatus 2 under the control of a pharmacist or other such user. In this way, there is provided a mechanism, such as a button or switch, disposed somewhere on the frame of the dispensing apparatus 10 that drives the plunger 18 (not shown in FIG. 2) downward to free a dose of medication from the blister-pack. Accordingly, there is no need to enter dosage information into a control apparatus such as a computer. Rather, the operator can simply feed the blister packs into the apparatus, position the de-blister apparatus over the desired cavity in the template 8, and manually cause the plunger to descend by depressing the button or switch.

In a third embodiment of the present invention, as shown in FIG. 3, an alternate positioning apparatus 4 is described. As in FIG. 2, reference numbers corresponding to elements disclosed in FIG. 1 have been duplicated. In this embodiment, a pivotable arm comprised of two rigid arm portions 32 and 34 and two pivots 36 and 38 allow the de-blister apparatus to be moved in the x and y directions. Additionally, though not shown, a vertical adjustment portion may be provided to allow the positioning apparatus to be adjusted in the vertical direction (the z-direction). Similar to the above two embodiments, the pivot arm may be manually adjusted by the operator, or may be placed under computer control to automatically dispose of the medication from the blister packs into the corresponding cavity of the custom pharmaceutical package. In addition, the embodiment shown in FIG. 3 is purely illustrative, and the arm may be composed of any number of segments and/or joints.

In light of the foregoing embodiments, the current invention allows the direct transfer of medication from bulk blister packs to a custom pharmaceutical package, without having to first remove all of the medication from the blister pack into a gross supply source. Such an invention is a great improvement over the prior art devices will be especially useful in countries where medication is delivered in bulk via blister-packs. Such an apparatus decreases the amount of time necessary to create such custom pharmaceutical packages, and improves the accuracy and effectiveness of such a practice.

Although the present invention has been described by way of exemplary embodiments, it should be understood that many changes and substitutions may be made by those skilled in the art without departing from the spirit and the scope of the present invention, which is defined by the appended claims. 

1. A pharmaceutical dispensing apparatus comprising: a positioning mechanism; and a de-blister apparatus connected to said positioning mechanism; and one or more blister packs comprised of a plurality of medication-containing blisters; and a pharmaceutical package containing a plurality of cavities; wherein said de-blister apparatus comprises a means for removing a dose of medication from one of said blister packs and disposing the dose into one of the cavities of said pharmaceutical package.
 2. The pharmaceutical dispensing apparatus of claim 1, wherein said de-blister apparatus means comprises a plunger that oscillates in a vertical direction.
 3. The pharmaceutical dispensing apparatus of claim 1, wherein said positioning mechanism comprises a plurality of slide rails providing said de-blister apparatus with movement in any direction in a horizontal plane.
 4. The pharmaceutical dispensing apparatus of claim 1, wherein said positioning mechanism comprises a pivot arm providing said de-blister apparatus with movement in any direction in a horizontal plane.
 5. The pharmaceutical dispensing apparatus of claim 3, wherein said positioning mechanism further comprises one or more screw drives allowing for automated positioning of the de-blister apparatus.
 6. A method of dispensing pharmaceuticals from blister packs comprising: a positioning mechanism; and one or more blister packs comprised of a plurality of medication-containing blisters; and a pharmaceutical package containing a plurality of cavities; and a de-blister apparatus connected to said positioning mechanism and comprising a means for removing a dose of medication from one of said blister pack; wherein said de-blister apparatus operates on said blister packs to cause a dose of medication removed from the blister pack to be disposed into a pre-determined one of said cavities in the pharmaceutical package.
 7. A method of dispensing pharmaceuticals from blister packs as in claim 6, wherein: said positioning mechanism operates under automated control.
 8. A method of dispensing pharmaceuticals from blister packs as in claim 6, wherein said de-blister apparatus means comprises a plunger that oscillates in a vertical direction. 